Post Lift Alignment

[cvmke]

Put a Teraflex spacer lift on my JLU today. Drove around a bit and it seems like it's dog-legging pretty good, and the steering wheel is off-center. I assume an alignment will take care of those. I also noticed that the front drivers side tire is sitting about 1/2" outside of the fender while the passenger side is lined up perfectly. Will the alignment address that too, or do i need to do something else for that?

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[rustyshakelford]

Steering wheel can be fixed on the ground in your garage or shop. Loosen a bolt and turn. Adj track bar will center the axle. Caster can be corrected if you have adj control arms

Brett

 

[UKCATS]

You can center the steering wheel yourself easily. As far as the front axle being offset, that will require a adjustable front track bar. A alignment won’t fix that. In fact, unless you have added adjustable control arms, or changed out your tie rod, there is nothing to align.

 

[MarkY3130]

Steering wheel is easily adjustable at home, but an alignment shop will center it as well. Regarding the axle being off center, an alignment will not fix that. That is caused by the trackbar being a fixed length and when you lift the vehicle it forces the axle to the side. Only way to solve that is by using an adjustable length trackbar and adjusting it until the axle is centered. I suppose it’s possible someone makes a bracket to account for it and uses the stock trackbar.

 

[cvmke]

You can center the steering wheel yourself easily. As far as the front axle being offset, that will require a adjustable front track bar. A alignment won’t fix that. In fact, unless you have added adjustable control arms, or changed out your tie rod, there is nothing to align.

I guess I've always heard that when you take the suspension apart, needing an alignment is likely. It's possible the dog-legging was in my head based on the steering wheel, so I'll start there and see what happens.

 

[rustyshakelford]

I guess I've always heard that when you take the suspension apart, needing an alignment is likely. It's possible the dog-legging was in my head based on the steering wheel, so I'll start there and see what happens.

More applicable with IFS suspension vs solid axle

Brett

 

[UKCATS]

I guess I've always heard that when you take the suspension apart, needing an alignment is likely. It's possible the dog-legging was in my head based on the steering wheel, so I'll start there and see what happens.

What size spacer lift did you install? Should be a YouTube video on how to straighten the steering wheel, super easy. Hope you get it worked out.

 

[cvmke]

What size spacer lift did you install? Should be a YouTube video on how to straighten the steering wheel, super easy. Hope you get it worked out.

2" front, 1/5" rear. I've adjusted the steering wheel on my JK's in the past, so I'll go do that this morning and see how it feels afterwards. Never had the off-center axle or the feeling of dog-legging in those (leveling kits), so I figured I'd just take it to a shop this time. Going to look for an adjustable track bar today too.

Thanks everyone for the quick replies!

 

[Shots]

....Regarding the axle being off center, an alignment will not fix that. That is caused by the trackbar being a fixed length and when you lift the vehicle it forces the axle to the side. Only way to solve that is by using an adjustable length trackbar and adjusting it until the axle is centered. I suppose it’s possible someone makes a bracket to account for it and uses the stock trackbar.

Yes an adjustable track bar will fix that. You can also buy a replacement track bar which is designed for the lift height installed. Either will work. There are only 2 companies that I found so far that make brackets to correct the offset (Terraflex being one of them), but both are for 2.5" or more lifts. Since the lift was 2 & 1.5, brackets aren't an option yet.

I guess I've always heard that when you take the suspension apart, needing an alignment is likely. It's possible the dog-legging was in my head based on the steering wheel, so I'll start there and see what happens.

Yeah, it seemed weird to me too. Having come from trucks with IFS, the Wrangler is my first solid axle. After a lot of research (prior to buying/installing my lift) I found that there's really nothing to adjust if you don't add new adjustable components.
New lower control arms will correct caster. My kit came with them, but adjustable or longer LCA's can be bought for around $300 - $400. There are also brackets with several settings made by Rancho (RS62118B) that you can get for $175 on Amazon.
Camber and Toe will be unchanged, since the axle, hubs, wheels, etc. don't change their relation to one another thanks to the the solid axle.
Offset, as previous mentioned, can be fixed with track bars. Keep in mind, you'll want one for the front AND back, since both were changed. A lot of people do the front and forget about the back. It's affected too. Like the control arms, there are various options for adjustable, and longer replacements. The average I found was roughly $150 each.
Lastly, the steering wheel adjustment is just a matter of loosening one nut and turning an adjuster on the drag link. This takes maybe a minute to do, and only requires 1 wrench (14 or 15 mm I think).

So in the end, no professional alignment needed. You can fix the steering wheel angle, and without the replacement parts there's nothing the shop can do to correct caster, or offset.

 

[anotheraznguy]

FYI, do not buy a front track bar bracket without a drag link flip. If you raise the axle mount for the front track bar only you will introduce massive bump steer due to the angle and arc of the track bar / drag link not being similar.

The only current full solution for front end steering geometry is steer smarts. They provide a relocation bracket for the track bar and they offer a no drill drag link flip.

In terms of rear, you can use whatever relocation bracket you need.

Also note, if you raise any of the mounts at the axle you are raising the roll center which will improve handling and decrease body roll.

 

[Roky]

@anotheraznguy advise is spot on, this is why I never use brackets in suspension lifts of any kind, imo your better off getting a nice well made adjustable track bar and your done.

 

[XJrider]

Oh dear here we go again....

 

[XJrider]

@anotheraznguy advise is spot on, this is why I never use brackets in suspension lifts of any kind, imo your better off getting a nice well made adjustable track bar and your done.

But... adjustable track bars dont adjust geometry for roll center.

 

[Roky]

But... adjustable track bars dont adjust geometry for roll center.

Lift is only2 inches, really no need to raise track bar.

 

[anotheraznguy]

But... adjustable track bars dont adjust geometry for roll center.

Correct, however most 2-2.5" lifts arent enough to warranty roll center adjustment. And you also have to look at clearances with the frame or other parts that could limit uptravel.

First lets look at the available rear track bar brackets. No one mentions how far they relocate the bolt up
EVO - only offers their rear bracket on a 3.5" or up lift kit
Teraflex - 2.5"-4.5"
Rock Krawler - Offers it on their 2.5" and 3.5"

Depending on which you go with will determine whether it will clear going up or if they moved the new hole too high for your application.

Front, currently only one top mount drag link is made, Steer smarts

I am aware of 2 front track bar relocation brackets
Teraflex - offers 2.5-3.5 and 4.5 brackets. The problem with this is that you aren't certain how much the hole is being raised compared to flipping the drag link
Steer smarts - Requires minimum 3" lift and 2.75" Bumpstops, hopefully designed to match drag link/track bar angle to each other using their flip kit

So anything under 3" of lift is in that territory of not needing it or not being able to fit without notching frame rails.

But if you are willing to notch your frame or other parts then i don't believe this thread is necessarily for you. There are numerous kits out there that supposedly lift 2" but lift more like 3"+ ie. Mopar

They do not offer any track bar bracket or track bar.

Note. This is only what is currently widely available on the market as of now in terms of brackets. Hopefully through 2019 more companies will come out with their setups which will help expand the market.

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